Scholarship
'Scholarship' In the Dresdenverse, knowledge breaks down into two camps: mundane ''and ''supernatural. the former. Scholarship operates as a catch-all skill for most kinds of regular, everyday, “book” knowledge with a few practical applications out in the field as well. Characters with high Scholarship may be adept at technology and research, well-versed in the sciences and liberal arts, and good at performing first aid (provided they have experience with it). They include star students, professors, and game show contestants. ''Answers ''The main use of Scholarship is to answer a question. Questions covered by Scholarship include those of history, literature, and the sciences both “soft” and “hard.” You can ask the GM, “What do I know about this subject?” or “What does this mean?” Often, there will be no need to roll, especially if the subject is within your specialty (as indicated by your background and aspects). But if the GM feels the information is something that should be hard to attain (such as a clue), then she may call for a roll against a difficulty she sets. If you succeed, you receive the information. If you fail, you may still attempt to research the topic (see the trapping by that name, below). In some cases (basically, whenever it might be entertaining), you may stumble onto a false lead that gets you deeper into trouble, or you may discover that the information you seek only uncovers deeper, unanswered questions. '' '' Computer Use Assuming that you aren’t the sort of person to, say, cause technology to short out when you get near it, the Scholarship skill includes the ability to use and operate complex computerized or electronic systems. This doesn’t really include any competence at hacking, per se— 'Burglary' is still used to actually defeat security measures and systems. However, Scholarship should modify Burglary whenever computers are involved. '' '' ''Declaring Minor Details ''You may use your knowledge to declare facts, filling in minor details that the GM has not mentioned. These facts must be within the field of your Scholarship, and the GM has the right to veto them. If all’s well, the GM sets a difficulty for the truth of the assertion, and if you succeed at your Scholarship roll, the assertion is true. If not, you are mistaken. In most cases, this is treated as a straightup declaration action. If your assertion is correct (i.e., successful), the aspect is placed; it can be tagged once and then invoked as usual. If your assertion turns out to be wrong, there is no penalty, but there may be complications—at her option, the GM could place a temporary Mistaken! aspect on you, compelling it to represent the fallout (and netting you a fate point). '' '' ''Exposition and Knowledge Dumping ''Sometimes the GM just needs to give the group a lot of information, and the character with a high Scholarship skill tends to be the conduit of that. When the GM needs to knowledge dump, if you have the highest Scholarship skill, the GM may ask you if she can use you as a mouthpiece. Assuming you agree, the GM can share all appropriate background and is encouraged to give you a fate point for having your character temporarily commandeered for the purposes of the story. '' '' ''Languages ''Languages are part of a good classical education. You may speak a number of additional languages based on your Scholarship score (you don’t have to, if it doesn’t suit your concept). Each step of Scholarship above 'Mediocre' gives you knowledge of one additional language (so one additional at Average, two at Fair, and so on). You don’t need to choose the languages when the character is created; you can instead choose languages in the course of play, as is convenient. '' '' ''Medical Attention ''Scholarship covers the scientific and practical knowledge necessary to administer basic First Aid. This allows you to declare that your care is sufficient justification for recovery from mild consequences, because you can create an environment that makes this recovery possible. Stunts are necessary to take this to the level of true doctors and surgeons. '' '' ''Research and Lab Work ''Researching a topic is frequently a time consuming and arduous task and exactly the sort of thing worth skimming over with a few quick dice rolls. Treat research as an extension of the knowledge the character has—you know the answers to some questions off the top of your head and can answer other questions because you know what book to look in. As such, deeper, dedicated research is something that might happen when you fail a Scholarship check. Provided you are willing to spend time researching (and that the answer can be found), the only questions are how long it will take you and how good a workspace you have access to (usually a library for book things, a laboratory for experimental research, etc.) to discover the answer. One important note: because the GM is not always obligated to reveal the difficulty of a given roll, you may not know how much you failed it by, which means you don’t know how long you’ll need to research. Usually you’ll just research until you find the answer, but sometimes, when time is tight, you might find yourself behind the eight-ball. Academic research requires a library, while research through experimentation requires a laboratory. The quality of these workspaces determines the hardest possible question you can answer within them (so a question of Good difficulty requires a Good library or better). If you attempt to answer a question in a library that’s not equipped to answer it, the GM is encouraged to be up-front about its shortcomings. Most high schools and private individuals have Mediocre, Average, or Fair libraries. Small colleges often have Good libraries and laboratory facilities; larger institutions may have Great ones. Superb and better libraries are few and far between. Many workspaces also have a specialty or two where they are considered to be one step higher—for example, Georgetown’s library specializes in law, so it has a Great library which is treated as Superb for legal questions. Characters may own libraries, laboratories, and other workspaces of their own; see the 'Resources 'skill for more. Category:Abilities